“… the Kouretes
hid the goddess’s holy
infant in a cave, unbeknownst
to Kronos of the crooked counsels,
when blessed Rhea stole him
and from the immortals won
great honor.” That was what he sang;
and the Muses at once directed
the blessed ones to drop their secret
voting pebbles into the urns
of gleaming gold. They all rose up together,
and Kithairon won the larger number;
and Hermes speedily declared,
shouting, that he had won the victory
which he desired, and with garlands . . .
. . . he
was adorned
by the blessed ones; and his mind rejoiced.
But Helikon, in the grip
Of cruel torments,
Tore out a bare rock,
Shaking the mountain, and groaning
pitiably he dashed it from on high
into innumerable stones . . . .
- “KOURETES”
Rhea, concealed from Cronos, gave birth
to Zeus in a cave of mount Dicte, and whom she entrusted to the Curetes and the
nymphs Adrasteia and Ida, the daughters of Melisseus.
- CRONUS (Kronos),
a son of Uranus and Ge, and the youngest among
the Titans. He was married to Rhea, by whom he became the father of Hestia,
Demeter, Hera, Hades, Poseidon, and Zeus. Cheiron is also called a son of
Cronus.
http://www.theoi.com/Ouranios/Mousai.html
-
Muses
The Muses, according to the earliest
writers, were the inspiring goddesses of song, and, according to later noticus,
divinities presiding over the different kinds of poetry, and over the arts and
sciences.
"[Mount Kithairon (Cithaeron)
competed in a musical contest against Mount Helikon--his song told of how the
infant Zeus was hidden away from Kronos:] That was his [Mount Kithairon's]
song; and at once the Mousai (Muses) instructed the blessed ones to put their
secret voting-pebbles into the gold-shining urns; and they all rose together,
and Kithairon won the greater number; and Hermes promptly proclaimed with a
shout that he had won his desired victory, and the blessed ones adorned him
with garlands of firs, and his heart rejoiced; but the other, Helikon, gripped
by cruel anguish, tore out a smooth rock, and the mountain shuddered; and
groaning pitiably he dashed it from on high into ten thousand stones."
- “It my have been the actual judging-process in a musical
contest, in which case it is no more than a literal item, a realistic
description, in this text, transposed to the divine or mythological plane for
realistic effect.”
- “It is transferred from judicial procedure to an ‘agonal’
context to enhance the text, in which case it is an analogue or metaphor.”
- “The effect would be to give credibility and reality to
the gods’ actions as they decide on the issue between Cithaeron and Helicon. Also
the transposition of the secret pebble-ballot from human, judicial
voting-procedure to divine decision-making in a singing contest between
gigantic personified mountains seems to us incongruous, and may have been
intended as humorous. The overall effect is dramatic and lively. “
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